Unetanneh Tokef, Unethanneh Toqeph, Un'taneh Tokef, or Unesanneh Tokef (ונתנה תוקף) ("Let us speak of the awesomeness ") is a piyyut that has been a part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy in rabbinicalJudaism for centuries. It introduces the Kedusha of Musaf for these days. It is chanted while the Torah ark is open and the congregants are standing. [1] Describing the important place this prayer has in the service, the ArtScrollmachzor is but one of a multitude of sources that calls it "one of the most stirring compositions in the entire liturgy of the Days of Awe." [2]

Recorded in the 13th century commentary Or Zarua, by Rabbi Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (died ca. 1270), and attributed to a writing (now lost) of Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn (a compiler of Jewish martyrologies, died ca. 1200), that Unetanneh Tokef was composed by a purported 11th-century sage named Rabbi Amnon of Mainz (or Mayence, in Germany) -- who, apart from this one story, is utterly unknown to history. As a friend of the Archbishop of Mainz (or, perhaps, the Governor)(otherwise unnamed), Rabbi Amnon was pressured to convert to Catholicism. As a delaying tactic, he requested three days to consider the offer; immediately he regretted intensely giving even the pretense that he could possibly accept a foreign religion. After spending the three days in prayer, he refused to come to the archbishop as promised, and, when he was forcibly brought to the archbishop's palace, he begged that his tongue be cut out to atone for his sin. Instead, the archbishop ordered his hands and legs amputated — limb by limb — as punishment for not obeying his word to return after three days and for refusing to convert. At each amputation, Rabbi Amnon was again given the opportunity to convert, which he refused. He was sent home, with his severed extremities, on a knight's shield.

This event occurred shortly before Rosh Hashanah. On that holiday, as he lay dying, Rabbi Amnon asked to be carried into the synagogue, where he recited the original composition of Unetanneh Tokef with his last breath (the story contains an ambiguous phrase that some commentators interpreted as saying that he did not merely die but that his body immediately vanished). Three days later, he appeared in a dream to Rabbi Kalonymus ben Meshullam (died 1096), one of the great scholars and liturgists of Mainz, and begged him to record the prayer and to see that it was included in the text of the High Holiday services. Thus, the legend concludes, Unetanneh Tokef became a part of the standard liturgy. [3]

However, modern scholarship has demonstrated that the prayer is in fact considerably older than it was traditionally believed, with fragments found in the Cairo Geniza dating to the 8th Century.[4][5][6]

While medieval history testifies amply to the intense persecution of Jews by Christians at the time of the Crusades, there are difficulties with the legend that it was composed by Rabbi Amnon of Mainz. Not least of these is its portrayal of R' Amnon as an illustrious Torah giant, while Jewish history of that period provides no record of a 'Rav Amnon of Mainz' at all. It seems unlikely that a person of such tremendous stature would be remembered only in a single legend.[7] Scholars have long known that there is no historical foundation for the story of Rabbi Amnon and that this story may have been inspired or derived from the Christian legend associated with Saint Emmeram of Regensburg.[8] Moreover, the discovery of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer within the earliest strata of the Cairo Geniza materials, dating well before the 11th century, makes it almost impossible that the prayer could have been composed as the legend claims. [9] Additionally, some scholars see parallels with non-Jewish hymnology, suggesting that elements of the prayer stemmed from other sources.[10] It is possible that the Rabbi Amnon story was entirely invented, not necessarily by the author of Or Zarua, to legitimize a piyyut of doubtful origin or simply to satisfy popular curiosity about the background of such an impressive liturgical work. Indications of this are the total absence of evidence of the existence of a Rabbi Amnon, the fact that the name Amnon is a variant of the Hebrew word for "faithful", the extravagance of the story, the conspicuous inclusion of Kalonymus, and evidences that this piyyut or something very similar was already in use before the time ascribed. [11] Additionally, both the language and style are different from the other poems of Kalonymus. [12]

Rather, the prayer was likely written by a payetan (perhaps Yannai, 7th century or earlier) in the Land of Israel centuries earlier. [7][13] Authorship in the Land of Israel is corroborated also by internal evidence, such as the concluding three-part remedy of 'repentance, prayer, and charity', which is found in exact permutation [14] in Genesis Rabbah (composed in the Land of Israel), yet not in Babylonian sources (e.g., Talmud Bavli cites a four-part remedy). Stylistically, the prayer indicates its composition in the land of Israel during the Byzantine period (namely 330 - 638).[15]

In the Ashkenazic ritual, Unetanneh Tokef is inserted during the Mussaf service, when the chazzan repeats the Amidah , as a Silluk (parting poem) just before entonning the kedusha. In the Sephardic ritual, Unetanneh Tokef is usually omitted, as Sephardic Jews do not recite piyyutim during the Amidah. Nevertheless, because of the importance of this prayer, many Sephardic congregations (mainly Moroccan) recite it immediately prior to the commencement of the Mussaf service. The congregation stands up to chant it and the Torah Ark is opened. It is one of the few piyyutim that is recited on both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur in the Polish tradition whereas it's only said on Rosh Hashanah by Sephardim and German Ashkenazim who have another silluk for Yom Kippur: "Mi Ya'arokh Eilekho". In Reform practice, it was taken from the recitation of the Amidah and presented as an independent item in both the Minhah and Yizkor services, early Reform practice had the line about the angels trembling deleted but this has been restored in more recent Reform prayerbooks.[16]

Unetanneh Tokef is recited immediately prior to and as an introduction for the kedusha prayer, during which the angelic sanctification of God is mentioned. Unetanneh Tokef adapts this daily praise to the specific elements intrinsic to the High Holidays, namely the Divine judgment of all existence. In most printed editions, Unetanneh Tokef consists of four paragraphs, each reflecting a different aspect of this general topic.

The theme of a divine decree being written derives, at least in part, to a Talmudic teaching:

On Rosh Hashana, three books are opened [in Heaven] - one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for those in-between. The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed clearly in the Book of Life. The thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed clearly in the Book of Death. The fate of those in-between is postponed from Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur, at which time those who are deserving are then inscribed in the Book of Life, those who are undeserving are then inscribed in the Book of Death. (T.B., Rosh Hashana 16b)

As a token of this belief, the common greeting on Rosh Hashana is לשׁנה טוֹבה תּכּתב (Leshana tovah tikatev) -- "May you be inscribed for a good year."[17]

The first paragraph depicts the judgment day, where the angels in heaven tremble at the awe-inspiring event of the annual judgment of all creation, with the implication that man should also approach this day with trepidation. The heavenly Book of Chronicles is opened, in which every human being's fate will be inscribed.[18]

"Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness and You will sit upon it in truth. It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seals, Who counts and Who calculates. You will remember all that was forgotten. You will open the Book of Remembrances — it will read itself - and each person's signature is there. And the great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin voice will be heard. Angels will hasten, a trembling and terror will seize them — and they will say, 'Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!' — for even they are not guiltless in Your eyes in judgment."

Book of fate:

"The Lord will never forgive him [one who secretly worships other deities ]; rather will the Lord's anger and passion rage against that man, till every sanction recorded in this book comes down upon him, and the Lord blots out his name from under heaven." (Deuteronomy 29:19).

"I looked up again and I saw a flying scroll. 'What do you see, he asked?' And I replied, 'A flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.' 'That,' he explained to me, 'is the curse which goes out over the whole land. For everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side of it, has gone unpunished; and everyone who has sworn falsely, as is forbidden on the other side of it, has gone unpunished." (Zechariah 5:3)

"The Lord has heard and noted it, and a Scroll of Remembrance has been written at His behest concerning those who revere the Lord and esteem his name." (Malachi 3:16)

"Add that to their [i.e. my enemies ] guilt, and let them have no share of your beneficence, may they be erased from the book of life, and not be inscribed with the righteous." (Psalms 69:28)

"At that time, the great prince Michael, who stands besides the sons of your people, will appear. It will be a time of trouble, the like of which has never been seen since the nation came into being. At that time your people will be rescued, all who are found inscribed in the book." (Daniel 12:1)

"Rav Kruspedia said in the name of Rav Yochanan: Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, one for the confirmed unrighteous, one for the confirmed righteous, and one for intermediate individuals. The confirmed righteous are signed and sealed immediately for life; the confirmed unrighteous are signed and sealed immediately for death; The fate of the intermediates is held suspended from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they are judged meritorious, they are written for life; if they are not judged meritorious, they are written for death." (Rosh Hashana 16b)

"Reflect on three things, and you will not fall into transgression: know what is above you—a seeing eye, a hearing ear, and a book in which all your deeds are written." (Pirkei Avot 2:1)

The great shofar will be sounded

"And on that day [of divine judgment], a great shofar [trumpet, ram's horn] shall be sounded and the strayed who are in Assyria and the exiles who are in Egypt shall come and worship the Lord on the holy mount in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 27:13)

The still thin sound:

"And lo, the Lord passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering bricks by the power of the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake—fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire—a soft murmuring voice [still, thin sound]." (1 Kings 19:11)

from a 2014 interview with Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the U.K.: "There's a wonderful line in Unetana Tokef: 'A great shofar sounds, and a still small voice is heard.' Here is God Himself, blowing the shofar. He doesn't scream in your ears; it's a still small voice. And then it says, 'The angels tremble.' That still small voice is what terrifies the angels. Not the big noise. But if God whispers in your ear and tells you you're an angel, that's terrifying. You think to yourself, 'Wow, I couuld be that big and look how small I am.'" [20]

Guilt of angels:

Even the moon is not bright, And the stars are not pure in His sight. How much less man, a worm, The son-of-man, a maggot. (Job 25:5)

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth." (Isaiah 24:21)

"If He cannot trust His own servants, and casts reproach on His angels, how much less those who dwell in houses of clay, whose origin is dust, who are crushed like the moth, shattered between daybreak and evening, perishing forever unnoticed." (Job 4:18)

"He puts no trust in His holy ones. The heavens are not guiltless in His sight; What then of one loathsome and foul, Man who drinks wrongdoing like water." (Job 15:15)

The second paragraph continues this point, depicting how every event that will occur in the upcoming year is "written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur". This paragraph is known by its opening words, BeRosh Hashana, and it is traditional that the litany of possible destinies is read with increasing speed from the phrase "Who shall rest and who shall wander" to the end of the paragraph. This paragraph reaches its climax with the final line, said by all the congregants in unison, "But repentance, prayer, and charity avert the severe decree." This verse is usually printed in more emphatic typeface and usually with, in smaller type, the words "fasting", "voice", and "money" above "repentance", "prayer", and "charity" respectively - those words are not read aloud but are intended as instructions on how to perform the three acts necessary to avoid (or reduce) the dire punishments. This verse expresses the formula by which a man may obtain a reduction in the severity of the original decree, as expressed in the Bible (Second Chronicles 7:14), the Talmud (T.B., Rosh Hashana 16b; T.J. Ta'anith 2:1) and Midrah (Bereshis Rabbah 44:13).[21]

"All mankind will pass before You like a flock of sheep.[22] Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the destinies of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.

On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed - how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by upheaval [23] and who by plague, who by strangling and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted. But Repentance, Prayer, and Charity annul the severe Decree."

Like a shepherd:

"Like a shepherd He pastures His flock: He gathers the lambs in His arms And carries them in His bosom; Gently he drives the mother sheep." (Isaiah 40:11)

God scrutinizes man:

"The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all mankind. From His dwelling place he gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth—He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings." (Psalms 33:13)

"What is man that You have been mindful of him, mortal man that You have taken note of him." (Psalms 8:5) "Oh Lord, what is man that You should care about him, mortal man that You should think of him." (Psalms 144:3)

"What is man that You make much of him, that you fix Your attention upon him. You inspect him every morning, examine him every minute." (Job 7:17)

"Do you fix your gaze on such a one? ... His days are determined. You know the number of his months; You have set him limits that he cannot pass." (Job 14:3)

"On Rosh Hashana all worldly creatures pass before Him like the children of Maron [meaning, according to Gemara, 'in single-file,' like sheep being counted, hikers ascending a mountain pass, or troops passing muster] as it says, 'He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings.'" (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana I, ;see also Mishna, Tractate on Rosh Hashanah I,2)

Repentance, prayer, and charity annul the severe decree:

"R. Judan said in R. Eleazar's name: Three things nullify a decree, and these are they: Prayer and charity and repentance, and the three are enumerated in one verse: If My people, upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray... (2 Chronicles 7:14)—here you have prayer, ...And seek My face (ib.)...—alludes to charity, as you read, 'I shall behold Thy face in righteousness' (Psalms 17:15), ...And turn from their evil ways... (II Chron. loc. cit.)—denotes repentance, ...after that, Then will I forgive their sin (ib.)." (Genesis Rabbah 44:12).

In most editions of the High Holiday prayerbooks these three words ("repentance, prayer, and charity") are printed in large type and above them in small type are the words "fasting, voice, money", to indicate that proper repentance requires fasting, proper prayer requires reciting the prayers aloud, and proper charity requires the giving of money. Additionally, in gematria (Hebraic numerology) each of the three words in small type have a value of 136, which is interpreted as meaning that each is equally important in averting stern judgment. [24] A Talmudic reference (Jerusalem Talmud, Taanit 2) has the sequence as prayer, charity, and repentance; and a prayerbook from Salonika, handwritten in 1522, has this verse rearranged to conform to the Talmudic sequence. [25]

Interpreters disagree on whether to translate this line as "annul the severe decree" or as "annul the severity of the decree". This distinction because the phrasing is ambiguous - and it would seem that the decree itself - namely, death in some form - cannot be totally and permanently avoided but that the immediacy or the cruelty of that death might be mitigated.[26]

The third paragraph begs for Divine mercy on the basis of the fact that man by nature is sinful and innately impotent and mortal, which conditions will cause a merciful Deity to forgive his trespasses. The passage here echoes the despair found in the book of Koheleth (Ecclesiastes), but concludes—as does Isaiah 40:7, from which it apparently draws—with the contrasting affirmation that God is eternal and enduring. The text of אדם יסודו מעפר ("A man's origin is from dust") is very similar to Wisdom of Solomon 2:1, where it is presented as the philosophy which the Book of Wisdom sets out to discredit.

"For Your Name signifies Your praise: hard to anger and easy to appease, for You do not wish the death of one deserving death, but that he repent from his way and live. Until the day of his death You await him; if he repents You will accept him immediately. It is true that You are their Creator and You know their inclination, for they are flesh and blood. A man's origin is from dust and his destiny is back to dust, at risk of his life he earns his bread; he is likened to a broken shard, withering grass, a fading flower, a passing shade, a dissipating cloud, a blowing wind, flying dust, and a fleeting dream."

If a man repents, God accepts:

"Seek the Lord while he can be found, Call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked give up his ways, the sinful man his plans; Let him turn back to the Lord, and He will pardon him; To our God, For he freely forgives." (Isaiah 55:7)

"Is it my desire that a wicked person shall die?--says the Lord God. It is rather that he shall turn back from his ways and live." (Ezekiel 18:23)

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

God knows man's inclination:

Man is but flesh and blood:

"All flesh is like grass, All its goodness like flowers of the field: Grass withers, flowers fade, When the breath of the Lord blows on them. Indeed, man is but grass: Grass withers, flowers fade — But the word of our God is always fulfilled!" (Isaiah 40:7)

"He brings potentates to naught, Makes rulers of the earth as nothing. Hardly are they planted, hardly are they sown, Hardly has their stem taken root in earth, When he blows upon them and they dry up, And the storm bears them off like straw." (Isaiah 40:23)

"the breath in our nostrils is as smoke... our body shall be turned to ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air... our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud... and shall be dispersed as a mist... for our time is a very shadow that passeth away." (Wisdom of Solomon 2:1)

"You return man to dust; You decreed 'Return you Mortals!' For in your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night. You engulf men in sleep; at daybreak they are like grass that renews itself; at daybreak it flourishes anew; by dusk it withers and dries up." (Psalms 90:3)

"Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow." (Psalms 144:4)

"Truly man has a term of service on earth. His days are like those of a hireling—like a slave who longs for shadows... My days fly faster than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end when the thread runs out. Consider that my life is but wind... Your eye will seek me, but I shall be gone. As a cloud fades away, So whoever goes down to Sheol does not come up... I shall not live forever; let me be, for my days are a breath." (Job 7:1)

"Man born of woman is short lived and sated with trouble. He blossoms like a flower and withers; he vanishes like a shadow and does not endure." (Job 14:1)

"Who knows what is good for man to do in his life, his few days of futility that pass like a shadow." (Ecclesiastes 6:12)

"And the [man's] dust returns to the ground as it was, and the spirit returns to God who bestowed it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

There is no set span to Your years and there is no end to the length of Your days. It is impossible to estimate the angelic chariots of Your glory and it is forbidden to pronounce Your Name. Your Name is worthy of You and You are worthy of Your Name, and You have included Your Name in our name."

God enduring: "Your kingship is an eternal kingship. Your dominion is for all generations." (Psalms 145:13)

You have included Your Name in our name: The name Israel , ישראל, contains within it אל, El , one of the names of God.

In 1990, Israeli composer Yair Rosenblum composed a new musical setting for the prayer.[27] This version was first performed at a memorial for 11 soldiers from kibbutz Beit Hashita who fell during the 1973 Yom Kippur war, and is now often played on Israeli radio during the High Holy Days.[28]

^Nulman, Macy, Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) s.v. Unetaneh Tokef, page 332; The Orot Sephardic Yom Kippur Mahazor (1997, NJ, Orot Inc.) page 1089. The translation of the Or Zarua version of this story can be found in Hoffman, Lawrence A., Who By Fire, Who By Water - Un'taneh Tokef (2010, Vermont, Jewish Lights Pub'g) pages 26-28; also "The Origin of the Piyut Unetanneh Tokef", newsletter of Beurei HaTafila, Aug. 3, 2012, pages 1-3 http://www.beureihatefila.com/files/2012-08-03_Tefila_Newsletter.pdf. Kalonymus may be the true author of this stirring recitation. Munk, Elie, The World of Prayer (1963, NY, Feldheim) vol.2, pages 209, citing Zunz. However, there is evidence that a very similar piyyut was being recited in Italy in contemporary with Kalonymus. Hoffman, op.cit., page 23.

^Martin, Bernqrd, Prayer in Judaism (1968, NY, Basic Books) page 209. Emmeram is not included in Butler's Lives of the Saints and his story resembles Rabbi Amnon only in the prolonged execution by amputation, no miraculous prayer or hymn involved.

^Gruber, Mayer I., "Tur-Sinai's Job in the Jewish Liturgy", Review of Rabbinic Judaism, vol. 6, nr. 1 (Feb. 2003) pages 87-100, suggests that Unetanneh Tokef is the earliest piyyut to invoke Job's dream vision in defense of mankind (page 92), and relays (page 93) the opinion from Goldschmidt, Daniel, High Holiday Prayerbook According to the Rites of the Ashkenazim (1970, Jerusalem, in Hebrew) vol. 1, page 169, that the word דקה ("gentle") is a later addition to the piyyut, inspired by First Kings 19:12, added to the phrase from Job.

^Although the next line is clear and unambiguous in its image of shepherd inspecting his lambs, this line is obscure and ambiguous. This and the next line appear together in the Talmud, Mishna Rosh Hashana I.2 (16a), and the same translation problems exist there. The sentence begins clearly enough, "All humanity will parade before You as if ...." but the last words are obscure. Kivnei maroen - כּבני מרוׂן - is not clear. This phrase appears in the Mishna and Talmud, as cited - and both the Rodkinson and Soncino translations render it "like the children of Maroen" - referencing a place or person not mentioned in Scripture, and in the Talmud two pages later (18a) the sages disagree on the meaning of the phrase. "Here [in Sura, Babylonia] they translated it (using a term that suggests that it was not a Hebrew or Aramaic phrase, but from some other language) 'like lambs' (evidently from the equally obscure Syriac Aramaic 'emruna' - lamb). Resh Lakish [in the land of Israel] said 'like the ascent of Beit Maron" [a place not mentioned in Scripture, Rodkinson translates this - with even less justification - "like the steps of the Temple"; some Talmud manuscripts and medieval commentators render this instead "like the ascent of Beit Horon" - a place mentioned several times in the Bible and other ancient sources] (suggesting a narrow and steep ascent in which climbers must go single file and carefully). Rav Yehudah said in the name of Samuel, 'like the soldiers of David.'" This last suggestion has gotten support from Greek; if, instead of two words this expression is one long word (a possibility for which there is some evidence, such as a Vienna manuscript of the Talmud), it could mean "like soldiers being reviewed", borrowing the Greek work noumeron - a numbering, a mustering. The three suggestions convey very different attitudes of the humanity that is being inspected, respectively (1 - sheep) timid with eyes downcast, (2 - ascent) terrified with every step, and (3 - soldiers) courageous and determined; Riskin, Shlomo, Rejoicing in the Temporary, Jerusalem Post, 28 Sept 2011. And Marcus Jastrow, in his Dictionary of Aramaic, did not need to go to the Greek; he supposed that maroen is related to the Biblical Hebrew marah - מרה - to rebel, to disobey, as in First Kings 13:26, Jeremiah 4:17, etc., and suggests that maroen means "rebels who surrender". (Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim ..., 1903, page 838 left column, s.v. מרוֹן.) , which would suggest that, in the Days of Awe, mankind presents itself for Divine inspection, in humiliation and dread, like the defeated ragtag rebels that they are. Planer, John H., The Provenance, Dating, Allusion, and Variants of U-n'taneh tokef and Its Relationship to Romanos's Kontakion, Journal of Synagogue Music, vol. 38 (Fall 2013) pages 173-174, 180-181; Weider, Naphtali, A Controversial Mishnaic and Liturgical Expression, Journal of Jewish Studies (Oxford), vol. 18 (1967), pages 1-7; Riskin, Shlomo, Rejoicing in the temporary, Jerusalem Post, 28 Sept 2011; Hoffman, Joel, Count on it, Jerusalem Post, 11 Sept 2009; Golinkin, David, Solving a Mahzor mystery, Jerusalem Post, 7 Oct 2005; Philalogos, On Language: Passing Before the Divine Eye, The Forward, 14 Sept 2007. Rashi preferred the first interpretation, of counting sheep, and that is the translation given in the vast majority of mahzorim.

^The word used here - רעשׁ - ro'ash - used in both Biblical Hebrew and in Aramaic, suggests a natural and widespread disaster and is usually translated as "earthquake", sometimes as "tempest".

^Gillman, Neil, in Proceedings of the Cantors Assembly, Jubilee Celebration, NY, June 1998 page 30; the ArtScroll machzorim render this line "remove the evil of the decree", the Orot machzorim render it "nullify the evil aspect of the decree".